


Beautiful Crime

by Baamon5evr



Category: Daredevil (TV), Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Corruption, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mad King George, Non-Graphic Violence, Not really enemies but not friends either, Vigilantism, blood tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-05-31 17:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6480721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baamon5evr/pseuds/Baamon5evr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron hated Hell's Kitchen, he always had. </p><p>It looked beautiful at night, all orange glows from the streetlamps and the far yet too close lights of Times Square and the west side loomed over giving it the appearance of a utopia but really it was just a pretty glamour hiding the dark, dirty underbelly that lurked around the shadows. Perhaps even a little closer to home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful Crime

**Author's Note:**

> This spiraled way out of control. A 5k hamburr fic became 19k hamburr/Burr Ness fic. SMH.
> 
> Lots of plot elements are inspired by the Daredevil comics and Netflix series. This is not a direct adaptation or re-telling of the 'Daredevil' story, the biggest thing being Alex is not blind but he is a lawyer. The characters from 'Hamilton' do not conform to fit roles within 'Daredevil' despite any similarities they may share with those characters. I feel the need to clarify that.
> 
> Also, I was on a mission to use all of the alluded to or minor Hamilton characters here, if only in reference to setting up the world around them. I still missed a couple here and there.
> 
> MARCH 21st Update: Minor changes made for plot consistency, mainly Alexander's "powers" and his injuries.

Aaron hated Hell's Kitchen and always had.

He remembered the house where he and his parents used to live upstate in New York with hazy recollection dulled by the experiences of a three-year-old but more than that he remembered the ranch in New Jersey where he resided with his grandparents. He remembered riding horses with his grandfather, milking the cow in the barn with his sister and baking with his grandmother before his grandparents' untimely death. Hell's Kitchen reminded him too much of Harlem where he and his sister were shuffled between two of their uncles and a cousin. One of their uncles couldn't care less about them, the other was a child molester and they were quickly taken from him and with their cousin, though he loved them, he wasn't around enough to save them from his wretched wife who chain smoked all day and terrorized them along with her stepchildren and her own children for her entertainment.

But Aaron thanked his encounter with her to this day because it was through her that he learned to perfect the art of talking less and smiling more. He was punished least out of all of the children in the house because he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He knew what to say and when and he was patient. He bid his time and the second he was 18 and had access to his trust fund he was gone. He would've stayed gone forever if not for his sister Sally falling ill and suddenly needing him nearby to help her with her children and her health as her husband wasn't much good for anything. So he found himself living in Hell's Kitchen in an apartment that was nice enough to not be crawling in bedbugs and roaches, the mice he could deal with well enough because that's one thing about New York City, it was either roaches, bedbugs and/or mice. God forbid you came down with all three, good luck sleeping soundly at night then.

As for the fourth pest, the humans, well Aaron would have to tolerate them. And he went about it well. He was perfectly and distantly polite to everyone. He was the perfect neighbor. No loud parties or late night music blaring. Half of the time he was at the police station where he worked anyway. The only constant annoyance there was was his neighbor, Alexander Hamilton. He was a walking, talking pain in Aaron's side ever since he moved in next door. He had loud get togethers with his friends, he was up at all hours speaking loudly to himself or rapping or debating with his television. Aaron could even hear him typing through the walls at 3 in the morning, it was that ridiculous. Hamilton, however, seemed to think nothing at all was wrong with him. In fact, he seemed to think he and Aaron were friends and really that was Aaron’s fault. Aaron had invited him over for dinner and a movie once and that was only because Hamilton had gone through a bad break up and ever since then he had been letting himself into Aaron's apartment at all hours of the night and day imposing his company onto him and asking for the most random and inconsequential things such as now.

"You came in, sorry, _broke in_ to my apartment to ask me for honey?"

"Breaking in is a strong term. That would imply a crime and that would just be stupid, breaking into a cop's apartment. Although if I could break into your apartment that means that this place isn't as secure as you think. Hypothetically speaking of course, because I didn't break in."

"When I know for a fact that you have honey in your home." Aaron continued as if Hamilton hadn't spoken. It was best to ignore him when he ranted sometimes.

"Yeah but I have the generic store brand honey. You have the swanky $60 a pop honey that well-off people like you can afford. Seeing as how I can't splurge on something like that, I thought I'd come mooch it off you."

"You're a lawyer, Hamilton. What do you do with all of your money?"

"Have you seen how much rent costs? That on top of food and clothes and my antique collection of quills and fountain pens, who has money left over for fancy honey, Burr?"

"Of course you have a collection of quills and pens. Of course you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hamilton had that tone that just screamed his want for a debate but Aaron wasn't about to give in to that.

"Figure it out. Take the honey and get out. Bring it back when you're done." Aaron said, turning back to stove where he'd been frying some eggs. He needed to be down at the station in an hour and he hadn't even showered yet on account of Hamilton's honey crisis. He went about scrambling his eggs before pouring them out on to a plate. He sat them down to let them cool and was startled to see Hamilton standing in his living room staring at the television, Aaron's jar of honey in hand.

"I do have work even if you don't. I kind of need you to leave at some point so I can-"

"I know, I know. I'm just..." Hamilton trailed off, waving towards the television. Aaron looked at the news reporter who was doing a story on the vigilante in Hell's Kitchen.

"Ah yes, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen." Aaron held in the scoff wishing to escape his mouth. This guy, the nerve of him, putting on some ridiculous horned costume and calling himself a hero while there were people putting down their lives who didn't get so much as a five-minute story or a column in the paper. Aaron thought bitterly of his first partner in the force, Theodosia. He thought of what they could've been and he thought of how she had died at the hands of one of the scum of the Kitchen and felt bitterness welling up in him.

That man was no hero.

"Once again for those of you just joining us, we're reporting on the Devil of Hell's Kitchens' crusade against the criminals of the neighborhood especially, but not limited to, the British mob headed up by George King the III. People are divided on this. Some believe that he's taking the law into his own hands when it's not his right to do so and some believe he is justice where the system fails. The question is, who is right here?" The anchorman said to his guest, a supposed expert on who knew and who cared.

"The thing is both sides hold credence in their belief. We know that the system is not a perfect one and people do know their way around it. It can corrupt and be corrupted and sometimes even dole out harsh injustices. So, it's completely understandable that someone would reach the breaking point this Devil obviously has reached and decide, 'you know what? If someone else won't do this, then I will.' At the same time, we have to think of the consequences of his actions. We have to think of who his actions may influence. That means people with mental disorders who may take inspiration here and end up getting hurt or hurting someone else. That means copycats who may cross the line in a way he wouldn't or chooses not to. There's tons of moral questions we can ask about whether or not we should condone "street justice" as it were, beating someone to a pulp, thus passing a judgement and executing it even if not to the full extent of the word. There are many layers to consider here." The guest explained.

"I don't think so; I think it's pretty straight forward. This man in the mask, whoever he is, obviously he just wants to help people. Why does it gotta get complicated?" Hamilton said angrily. Aaron looked at him briefly before turning away.

"What?" Hamilton groused. Aaron rose an eyebrow in response.

"What was that look?"

"What look?"

"Come on, I know you well enough to know when you want to say something but won't. I've seen that face more than enough times to recognize it." Aaron weighed his options. If he ignored Hamilton's question he'd pester him all week, if he gave his opinion he'd give too much of himself away. Ultimately he decided on bland, non-personal facts.

"The expert is right. There are consequences and fall out to his actions. We've had to deal with a number of copycats down at the station. It's easy to tell the real from the fake now that the Devil's embraced the name and got a new suit but the whole man, and even woman, in black thing is popping up all over the city. We call them Devil Worshipers at the station. There's one in particular, a woman who we haven't identified, that may be taking this vigilante's code a step too far. She's methodical and brutal and deadly."

"Well, you can't blame that on the man in the mask. He doesn't kill, he never has. If she kills that's on her." Hamilton defended, slightly red in the face.

"Of course but she wouldn't have existed if he hadn't decided to pull on a cape and tights and play Batman."

"At least he takes a stand with pride for something. All you do is stand to the side, Burr." Aaron watched Hamilton storm out of the apartment, briefly wondering why he took it so personal before shrugging it off. It was Hamilton, who knew why he did anything he did.

**~*~*~**

Aaron looked out the window of his squad car as he and his partner William P. Van Ness drove to their latest crime scene. Van Ness was a large presence beside him, his blue eyes trained on the road while his olive toned hands clutched the steering wheel and his dark hair and light eyes reflected the moonlight as they drove through the city to the call sight. They didn't know who called them, the house they were called for was abandoned, but they got an anonymous tip about some suspicious activity surrounding it and so they went to check it out.

"What do you think? Cannibal's house?" Van Ness suggested. Aaron gave him a look at the suggestion.

"What is your obsession with cannibals?"

"I just want to book one before I retire, it'll make for a good story later on." Aaron shook his head and looked forward as they came to a stop at the abandoned house. They got out of the car on high alert, their guns drawn with their flashlights in their other hand. Aaron entered first walking ahead and being sure to check his surroundings as he went along. As he walked through the house he saw unconscious men strewn across the halls and the living room. Obviously they had set up here and were operating in some fashion.

Aaron was about to make his way to the kitchen when a sound to his left caught his attention. He looked and saw a door leading to the basement. He signaled his plan to investigate it to Van Ness who nodded and continued to the kitchen. Aaron carefully made his way downstairs. The basement was dark but there was a light bulb hanging in the middle of the room that threw light out, it didn't quite make the corners of the room though. He followed his flashlight along the walls and stopped when he reached a foot. He shone his light on the body only to see two teenage girls and a young boy handcuffed to a radiator. Aaron rushed over to them as they whimpered in fear. They had bruises and dirt on them and their lips were chapped badly. They were probably dehydrated.

"I need three ambulances at the abandoned house on 17th." He said into his radio.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay." He assured them. He felt the hair on his neck stand on end as they started crying and looking behind him. He stood abruptly, his gun trained on the person behind him. He was staring down the barrel of a gun for about two seconds when suddenly a red blur descended on the perp. In seconds the man was disarmed and unconscious on the floor. Aaron looked at the masked vigilante in disbelief. He wasn't expecting this tonight.

"You're welcome." The man said, his voice unnaturally deep and obviously affected with some kind of voice modifier.

"What the hell happened here?" Aaron asked.

"What do you _think_ happened? These British assholes are traffickers. I handled it." Aaron didn't hold back his scoff here.

"I can see that."

"You got a problem with that?" The man asked. Aaron swallowed down what he wanted to say.

"No." The man stared at him a little longer before shaking his head.

"This flea trap is only the tip of the iceberg. Their operation extends beyond this and they've obviously got people covering for them. No way the police don't know about it. You might want to clean house; you have some stains you need to scrub."

"Excuse me? Are you accusing my colleagues of corruption?"

"Yep. I will say this though. Your response time was surprisingly quicker than I anticipated. Now as much as I'd love to debate this with you, there are three children behind you who I'm sure would love to see their parents again and I have more work to do." Aaron stood and watched the devil recede into the shadowed corners of the room towards the stairs before turning back to the children.

It was absurd really, his theory about the police force. It was the one thing in this stinking, shithole of a city that Aaron actually prided himself on being a part of. His grandfather and father were cops and his mother was a lauded detective, he needed to continue that legacy for better or worse and he was doing so. He wasn't about to let some guy who worked in the dark of night and used his violence as justice make him doubt himself now.

**~*~*~**

Aaron didn't reach his house again until three days later. Working in the police force sometimes meant working day long shifts, putting in extra time and working without sleep especially in a place as crime riddled as Hell's Kitchen. Aaron felt fatigue bone deep as he trudged down the hall to his apartment. He entered his place and stopped abruptly when he realized his television was on. He walked around the corner and peered into the living room only to roll his eyes at the sight of Hamilton sitting on his couch in his pajamas with a box of Chinese food takeout in his lap watching some clip show.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" Aaron asked dolefully.

"Huh? Oh good, you're back. I was starting to worry that you'd been killed in action or something."

"What are you doing here?" Aaron reiterated.

"I'm watching TV obviously. Me and the crew got a little rough yesterday and now my TV has a dent the size of Texas in it. I didn't want to miss my show though so I just came here."

"How did you get in? I locked my door."

"... I'm not at liberty to discuss that." Aaron rolled his eyes. He did not have the time or energy for Hamilton right now.

"I'm too tired for this. I'm hungry and dirty and not feeling particularly sociable right now, Hamilton."

"That's fine. You can take a shower and get dressed then come out here and eat some Chinese food with me. I got you chicken and broccoli. We don't have to talk; we can just watch some mindless television together." Hamilton said with a shrug. Aaron felt anger at Hamilton's audacity rise but ultimately it faltered under the weight of his lethargy and he found himself mumbling an affirmative to Hamilton's plans while shuffling off to the bathroom.

He showered quickly and pulled on some sweatpants along with a NYPD t-shirt and joined Hamilton on the couch. They watched the program mostly in silence, Aaron reaching down to rub his feet every now and again. They felt particularly achy after the rough few days he had and he hardly noticed he was rubbing them until Hamilton pointed it out.

"Hmm? Oh, it's just a byproduct of running around in circles for three days. It happens a lot. I'm used to it. It's nothing serious." Aaron said, waving off Hamilton's concern.

"I do a lot of running around as well throughout my day but Laf, John and Herc are adamant that I get a foot rub at least once a week. They said it'll help in the long run with tension."

"Well, I'm not exactly about to ask any of the guys at the station for a foot rub. Some of them are put off enough with my sexuality." Hamilton was silent for a moment but Aaron knew it wouldn't last. He was, however, surprised at what he did say.

"I can do it. I can give you a massage." Aaron looked over to him as he sat there looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Just to, you know, help you out. I did break into your apartment after all."

"So you admit to breaking in. I could arrest you for that." Aaron quipped. That seemed to ease Hamilton's tension and he smiled at Aaron with his usual dazzling smile because Hamilton was a charming bastard.

"You could but I'd be out within the hour. You have no evidence anyone can corroborate and I'm sure your buddies would rather I don't tear them a new ass hole this week."

"Okay Hamilton, I didn't mean to put you in lawyer mode."

"I'm always in lawyer mode. So..." Hamilton gestured to his lap and Aaron hesitated a moment before slowly bringing his legs up to his lap and turning in his seat so his back was to the arm of the couch.

"Just... you know, be gentle." Aaron advised him. Hamilton nodded and turned back to the television as he began rubbing the soles of Aaron's feet. He had to suppress the noises wishing to leave his mouth at the heavenly feeling of Hamilton's fingers kneading into his skin. It'd been some time since he was touched with any sort of care and this seemed too intimate of an experience to be sharing with his annoying asshole of a neighbor. Aaron was letting him too close, especially considering how their last meeting ended, but he had no inclination to move from this spot and didn't want Hamilton to stop touching him and so he did nothing about it.

**~*~*~**

The next morning Aaron woke up in his bed. He looked around with some confusion, he didn't remember walking there from the couch. Last he remembered Hamilton was rubbing his feet as Aaron nodded off on the sofa. He stood up and shuffled out of the room. He made his way past the kitchen and peered into the living room. Hamilton wasn't there and the coffee table was free of any trace of their Chinese food. Aaron turned back to the kitchen when a plate of eggs and toast alongside a glass of orange juice and his jar of honey caught his eye. There was a note leaning next to the plate.

_**Hey, you fell asleep last night and you looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you so I carried you to your bed. I figured I owe you for letting me crash your quiet night so I made you eggs. I know you like them scrambled and that you prefer OJ to coffee in the morning, also I brought back your fancy honey as promised. I would've stayed for breakfast but despite your belief, I do actually have work to get to. Still I wanted to be sure you started your day off right. I'll see you when I get home hopefully.** _

_**xxx A. Ham xxx** _

Aaron looked over the letter again and rolled his eyes at Hamilton's sign off. A dot Ham both preceded and followed by kisses? Why did Aaron expect anything different? He sat down and dug into the food. He didn't realize he was smiling the entire time.

**~*~*~**

Aaron went into the police station later on a bit of a high that he didn't notice until Charles Lee whistled loudly at him.

"Look at you Burr. You're looking particularly chipper today. Did someone bring home a pretty lady last night? Or are you into guys this week? I can never keep track of your depravity." And just like that his good mood was shattered. He gave Lee a ireful look as he removed his jacket and sat at his desk.

"If Aaron brought a cat home to cuddle with it'd be more action than you're liable to see anytime soon, Lee." Van Ness said churlishly, breezing into the room and placing a cup of coffee on his desk. Alexander was right, Aaron liked his orange juice first thing in the morning and his coffee a little after. Van Ness was usually sure to stop by a bodega in his neighborhood that had better coffee than Aaron would receive from Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks and brought a cup in for him.

"I was just asking your boyfriend a question, no need to get defensive." Lee spat back at him with annoyance.

"And where's your boyfriend these days, Lee? Or is Benedict late again?" Lee looked at the clock suddenly before cursing, grabbing his cell phone and strutting out of the room. Aaron watched him go before jumping slightly when Van Ness dropped a hand on his shoulder. He still was not particularly used to the physical contact he liked to employ between them.

"I don't understand why you let that sniveling rat talk to you so disrespectfully."

"I've learned to handle abuse just fine." Aaron said, unable to stop his head from turning to look around to be sure that no one was within hearing distance of them.

It took years for him to open up to Van Ness about anything, especially his past and that was probably only because he had been drunk one night, let some things slip and Van Ness grabbed on to it and wouldn't let it go. Thus he was privy to the sad story of poor orphan Aaron Burr, shuffled from one house to another, abused by his aunt and struggling to live as a bisexual Black police officer in a neighborhood where almost everyone discriminated against or hated him for at least two of those three things. It was not a position he enjoyed being in but he couldn't rip the knowledge from Van Ness' brain. It did not escape his notice that his partner was much more protective of him lately than when they first started out though.

Van Ness sighed before sitting down beside him. Aaron watched as Lee and his partner Benedict Arnold walked past the room towards the interrogation rooms.

"So did I tell you I met Daredevil?"

"That's what we're calling him now?" Aaron asked, rolling his eyes.

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen is a mouthful. It was a robbery. These idiots shot the teller before I could pull my gun and they had their eye on me. Then Daredevil flies in, literally the dude flew in through a window and kicked their asses soundly. If it wasn't for him, there's a good chance we wouldn't have gotten the teller medical help in time. Then the whole time the old man is complaining about the window. The dude just saved your life. Give him some credit."

"I'm not sure if insurance covers vigilantism so his ire is somewhat understandable."

"Still, a 'thank you' isn't too much for the guy who just made it so you didn't end up in a pine box." Aaron didn't say anything. He felt this vigilante was a double-edged sword. On one hand he saved lives, on the other it wasn't his place to take the law into his own hands. Aaron and Van Ness' conversation was cut off as a commotion sounded from the front desk. They exchanged a look and made their way to front. Burr rolled his eyes when he saw it was Hamilton standing there clad in a wrinkled suit with a purple bruise covering his right cheek as he listed reasons why the officer manning the front needed to let him through.

"Furthermore, as a professional, I am shocked that you would keep me from my client. It isn't as if the NYPD is as squeaky clean as you'd like to think, the family of Eric Garner can attest to that." Aaron picked up his pace just as Montgomery looked at Hamilton like he was ready to spew dragon fire. The fool, Hamilton, would just stand there thinking he was fireproof.

"Hamilton, what are you doing here?" Aaron asked.

"Ah, finally someone who's competent. I am here to see my client. Your guys have him here and haven't charged him. Now if you had the evidence you needed against Mr. Weeks I doubt he'd still be here so I want him released. You're at hour 71 anyway. Unless a miracle flies in through the window for you guys--" Aaron cut Hamilton off before he could keep pontificating.

"Okay, I get it. I'll get someone on releasing him, that is if you can refrain from verbally assaulting anyone in that time." Aaron walked away and rolled his eyes again as Hamilton followed him.

"So, how'd you like your eggs? There weren't too runny were they?"

"They were fine, Hamilton." Aaron could feel Van Ness staring at him with a quizzical expression but he did his level best to ignore that.

"What happened to your face?" He asked Hamilton in an effort to put Van Ness off from asking anything. Hamilton rubbed at his bruised cheek before shrugging.

"I'm clumsy, you know that." Aaron shrugged at that. He didn't notice one way or another. He was about to say so but anything he planned to utter left his head as a gunshot resounded through the police station.

The three men exchanged looks before Aaron and Van Ness made their way to the room quickly, their guns drawn with Hamilton on their heels. Aaron reached a hand behind him and held it in front of Hamilton, his body shielding him slightly as Officer Pendleton nudged the door open. Lee and Benedict were in the room with a suspect who was dead on the floor, a gunshot wound to the head. He pushed Hamilton slightly so he didn't have to see the blood and brain matter on the wall.

"What happened?" Van Ness asked.

"He picked his handcuffs and attacked Lee when his back was turned, he was reaching for his gun so I shot him. I had to." Benedict explained.

"How did he manage to pick the lock?" Hamilton asked, peering past Aaron's body at the two officers. Lee looked at him with derision clear in his face.

“He must have got something. Maybe in his cell or he had something on him already.”

"So you guys are either negligent with your body searches or the cleanliness of your holding cells? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, that's not what--"

"That sounds a lot like what you're saying or am I the only one making that distinction?"

"No, that's a fair assessment." Aaron turned to Officer Pendleton with a glower.

"What? It is!" Aaron rolled his eyes before focusing on the pissing match he found himself in the middle of.

"That's enough, Hamilton."

"I'm just saying this looks awfully suspicious. I wouldn't be surprised if the cameras aren't working, and it's you twos’ word against a dead man's."

"Hamilton."

"He's a criminal. Just a dead British thug. What do you care?" Lee sneered.

"Oh really? British, huh? That's interesting because--"

"Alexander!" Hamilton finally looked at him.

"Go with Officer Montgomery to collect your client."

"But I'm--"

" _Go_." Aaron said firmly, staring the other man down. Hamilton looked at him with his chin raised defiantly but after a few moments he deflated and followed Montgomery. Aaron looked back into the room at the dead body of one of the men who he and Van Ness had arrested at the abandoned house. Burr glanced up at the cameras, the red light wasn't blinking. He thought back to the vigilante's accusations about his station not being as clean as he thought it was. He didn't want to believe it but something about this just didn't feel right.

**~*~*~**

“What was that?” Hamilton said immediately as Aaron entered his apartment. He was beginning to think the man spent more time here than he did in his own place.

“What was what, Hamilton?” Aaron asked tiredly.

“You shut me down at the police station. Why didn’t you just let me get my point across?”

“Because we weren’t in a courtroom, we were in my place of employment and I would rather not have dealt with you starting a fight that I would have to pay for after you left.”

“But I was right! Don’t you think, even a little bit, that something was off with that situation? How did that man manage to pick his handcuffs and if Arnold really did shoot him in the head as he was reaching for Lee’s gun why was the blood splatter perfectly behind him on the wall as if he was sitting in his chair when it happened?”

“Hamilton--”

“Burr, something isn’t right and I know that you feel it too even if you’re too much of a coward to just say it!” Aaron’s face shuttered close at the insult.

“Please leave.” He said firmly, walking past Alexander to the kitchen. He heard the man sigh and walk behind him into the kitchen.

“I said leave Hamilton.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. I just… I don’t understand you.”

“Why do you need to understand me?”

“I just… I think you’re a good person even if you don’t speak up enough about your beliefs and I-I… I care about you.” Aaron looked at the other man as he stared at him earnestly, not quite sure what to say.

“Can we just talk?”

“Talk about what?”

“Why don’t you want to see the truth? There’s something going on at your station and it involves Lee and Arnold somehow.” Aaron sighed, sitting down on a stool at the island trying not to give in to Hamilton’s silent pleading. Why was he wanting to give in anyway? Hamilton was nothing more than an annoyance, why should he feel compelled to share with him what he hadn’t even shared with Van Ness, what only Theodosia had known if only in a small capacity?

“Why do you care so much anyway?” Aaron countered. Hamilton silently sat across from Aaron and stared down at the island as he spoke.

“When I was 10 my father split, debt ridden and not much of a presence in my life to begin with. My mother had to do… she made sure I survived no matter what that meant for her. Two years later she died. When I was older I looked for him, I wanted answers. I found out he was a cop, a dirty cop and he skipped town because he was almost caught. He was living in the lap of luxury with his dirty money while my mother and I were bedridden, half dead and sitting in our own vomit. My mother died holding me. I became a lawyer partly because I wanted to be able to use the justice system to speak for people like my mother and take down people like my father. You, you’re… you’re good Burr. I can see the person you could be but you just hold yourself back and I don’t understand why. I just want to understand.” Aaron sighed and the words seemed to flow from him without his express permission.

“My grandfather was a police chief, one of the best in New York. My mother was a genius detective; my father was an officer that commanded respect. When they died they didn’t leave instructions, just a legacy that can either crush me or make me but either, is still my duty to protect. That precinct? That precinct is their legacy and I need to be there in the room where they worked, where they happened and mattered.”

“You can be in that room without compromising your morals, Burr. You can be the one to bring people like my father down, that would protect your family’s legacy rather than just standing to the side.” Aaron looked over at Hamilton as he placed his hand over his.

“I don’t pretend to know the obstacles you’re facing here but I know you’ll make the right choice.”

Aaron looked away once more. He wasn’t as sure as Hamilton was in his faith that Aaron would make this choice to go against all that he knew. Aaron stood up and walked towards the door.

“Burr--”

“I’m going for a walk.” Aaron paused at his front door and tilted his head over his shoulder slightly.

“I’d appreciate it if my apartment is empty when I get back.” He didn’t stay to hear Hamilton’s response to that.

**~*~*~**

Aaron hoped that taking a walk would clear his mind. He thought he would just walk aimlessly until he reached his apartment again but somehow he found himself standing outside of Van Ness’ building. He paused before making his way up the stairs until he found himself in front of Van Ness’ door. He knocked on the door expecting to see Van Ness open it but instead it was a woman. She had light brown skin, long curly hair and a hard edge to her eyes even as she looked at him inquisitively.

“Can I help you?”

“Um, I’m looking for William.” Aaron wondered if he was at the wrong place when suddenly William appeared behind her looking a little nervous.

“Aaron! What, uh, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you but if you’re busy…” He said, trailing off looking between the two.

“Uh, no, no. This is my new roommate, Maria Reynolds. Maria, this is my partner Officer Aaron Burr.”

“Nice to meet you.” Aaron nodded at her and watched as she slipped back into the house without another word.

“When did this happen?” Aaron asked him.

“She’s just my roommate really.”

“If you say so."

"Even if she was my girlfriend, which she isn't, you can't fault me for not telling you seeing as how you didn't tell me about you and Hamilton."

"What about me and Hamilton?"

"Is there a reason he's making you eggs in the morning? I wasn't aware you two spend so much time together. I thought you hated him."

"We don't spend much time together and I don't like him. He broke into my place and invaded my privacy. The eggs were his misguided attempt at an apology for something he's bound to do again."

"If you say so." Van Ness said with a smirk. Aaron shook his head as Maria called out to Van Ness.

"You've got your hands full so I’ll leave you two to it.”

“Hey wait, what did you need? You’re not the type to show up to my place at night for a social call... or any reason besides when I force you to.” Aaron looked at Van Ness and wondered if it was worth burdening him with something that he wasn’t even sure of when he had someone in his apartment that he could be spending time with.

“You know what, just forget it. It’s not as important as I thought. You get back to Ms. Reynolds. Be safe and all that.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my roommate.”

“Sure.” Aaron replied, giving him a smile before making his way back down the stairs. His smile fell from his face as he walked away.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

**~*~*~**

When Aaron returned home it was thankfully to an empty apartment. He went to bed that night and didn't see Hamilton for the next few days. He didn't even think he was home or else at least one of the members of his crew would've showed up to his apartment and would not be quiet about it. Aaron was fine with Hamilton's absence, it gave him time to reflect and visit his sister. Unfortunately it also gave him plenty of time to think about what Hamilton said and what the right thing to do was. He took to finding places where he could think alone after that which found him stood on the roof of an apartment building near the station looking out at the city. It looked beautiful at night, all orange glows from the streetlamps and the far yet too close lights of Times Square and the west side loomed over giving it the appearance of a utopia but really it was just a pretty glamour hiding the dark, dirty underbelly that lurked around the shadows. Perhaps even a little closer to home.

_No, don't do that to yourself. Don't doubt yourself now, you can't afford to do that._

"Are you allowed to be up here?" Aaron jumped slightly as a robotic voice sounded behind him. He turned only to see Daredevil staring at him, his head cocked slightly to the side. Aaron shook his head after a moment of staring into the red orbs that covered his eyes from view.

"You need to figure out a way to alert people to your presence. Make noise, get a call sign like Batman or something, figure out a code word but the whole melting from the shadows, appearing out of nowhere thing. It's already overstayed it's welcome." Daredevil shrugged.

"Do you plan for us to meet often enough to need a signal?"

"If you're going to stalk me across rooftops, rooftops that I have the express permission of the landlord to be on by the way, then I suppose a code word would not be terrible."

"Nah, I'll leave the whole code thing to you cops. I'll also leave corruption, obstruction of justice, probably perjury, murder, assault, I'd be willing to bet on fraud and destroying evidence, I'll leave all that to you boys in blue." Aaron sighed as the vigilante patted his shoulder and made for the edge of the roof. What he planned to do Aaron had no idea but he stopped him before he could leave.

“Why do you do this?”

“Excuse me?” Daredevil asked, turning to Aaron.

“You put this suit on and you go out there every day. What are you trying to accomplish?”

“What are you trying to accomplish when you put your uniform on?”

“I’m trained for this, I worked to be this. I’m not making this up as I go along. You though? Do you even have a plan?”

“I’m going to clean this city up. Far as plans go it’s still pretty vague but the finer details can come later.” Aaron could almost hear amusement in his doctored voice.

“Civil liberties are being trampled on.”

“Hey, I’m just a guy trying to do what’s best for my city and if that means making some lowlifes feel the consequences they evade with the help of dirty cops then that’s what I’ll do.”

“It doesn’t matter what they’re accused of, it’s not your place to be judge, jury and executioner.”

“Maybe not but your precinct isn’t crawling with virtue either.” Daredevil countered.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Aaron replied.

“Oh come on! Don’t give me that B.S. You work in a cesspool of liars and criminals who wear a badge they don’t deserve. I don’t think you’re a bad guy, Officer Burr, but ignorance does not equal innocence. You know something’s going on and if you stand by while this is happening under your nose you’re just as guilty as them.” The masked man's modified voice shook him to the core which only served to fuel his irritation.

“What do you expect me to do? Turn my colleague’s in? Report them on some vague suspicions and the word of a vigilante? I’d lose everything if I did that.”

“It’s not about _you_. You know what? I don’t want to fight with you anymore but I won’t apologize for doing what’s right. If you’re really who I want to believe you are then you’ll do what’s right too.”

“How would you know anything about what I will and won't do? You don’t know me.”

“I know you better than you think. I need to go, I have a city to protect and you do too. I guess it just comes down to seeing who you really are: if you stand for nothing Burr, what will you fall for?”

“My friend says something like that all the time. You’d like him, maybe you should go to him for help.” Daredevil gave him something of a sardonic smile.

“I’m sure I would like him. But you’re the one I’m coming to. Don’t let me down.”

Burr watched him leap off the edge of the building before turning back to the city before him. Here he was, stuck between a city he hated and a man he couldn’t stand and yet he didn’t want to let either of them down.

**~*~*~**

Aaron returned to his apartment one day expecting to find it empty, as was the trend with Hamilton now, instead he was immediately set upon by a ball of fur which ran around his feet, barking.

“Hamilton!” Aaron called. Alexander peaked around the corner then and smiled at him.

“Hey, good to see you back. Seabury, leave him alone.” Hamilton said to the dog who walked back over to him and looked up at him inquiringly.

“Whose dog is that?”

“Mine now. I just recently acquired him.” Aaron looked the dog over, one of its paws was wrapped in a bandage and there was a healing wound by its eye. Hamilton must have noticed Aaron’s look.

“His last home wasn’t the greatest one in the world but that’s okay because he’s with me now.” Aaron gave the other man a glare. He knew Hamilton too well and he could tell by the expression on his face and the bruises forming by his mouth and cheek the exchange of the dog probably wasn’t very amicable or legal.

“You know, for a lawyer, you sure like breaking the law.”

“I have no idea what you mean by that.” He replied innocently.

“Uh-huh, there better not be a report in the station about this dog you stole.”

“There might be or maybe George King will just talk directly to one of his employees.”

“Alleged leader of the Redcoats, George King?”

“The dude who is also probably paying half the guys at your station, yup that George King.” Aaron rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Can we not? I deal with that asshole vigilante riding me about this enough, I’d rather not deal with it from you as well, not today.”

“As your friend I’m just saying that even though ‘talk less, smile more’ is your thing that in this case taking a stand wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

“Who says we’re friends? As far as I’m concerned you’re the guy who breaks into my apartment, eats my food, steals my Tupperware for leftovers and lets your stolen dog chew on my carpet.” Hamilton turned to where Seabury was idly chewing the edge of a rug in Aaron’s kitchen.

“Seabury’s probably just hungry, I was going to get some Vienna sausages from my place for him."

"Appetizing." Aaron deadpanned.

"As for us, I know I annoy you. I know I talk too much, I’m abrasive and loud and I get overexcited and shoot off at the mouth, I’m trying to work on it. The crew says it can be off-putting to some people but I mean you haven’t forcibly removed me from your apartment or pulled a gun on me, that’s happened once.”

“What? Someone pulled a gun on you?” Aaron asked incredulously.

“And see! You’re concerned from my well-being.”

“I’m a cop, I’m concerned for everyone’s well-being.”

“Well, even if you don’t think of me the same way, I consider you a dear friend Burr. I’d be loath to lose you in my life.” Aaron looked at Hamilton who was staring at him with wide sincere eyes.

“Alexander—what?” Aaron cut himself off as Hamilton’s eyes widened.

“It’s just you’ve never called me Alexander before.” Aaron looked down. He didn’t call him Alexander even in his head because that felt too intimate but now as he was denying their friendship and Hamilton was here pleading for them to be friends. What was the point?

“I… look, just go get Seabury some food. I’ll scare something up and we can watch Netflix or something.”

“Netflix and chill? How forward of you Burr. You haven't even taken me out to dinner yet.” Hamilton said with a wide grin.

“Go, before I change my mind.”

“Fine, we can have a quiet night in. We can use it as a little welcome celebration for Seabury.” Hamilton said, walking to the door.

“Hamilton?” He turned around and looked at Aaron quizzically.

“I do, you know. I do consider you a friend.”

“I know; I was just waiting for you to catch up. And just so you know all of my friends call me Alexander.”

“Okay, Alexander.” Hamilton smiled at him once more before walking off. Aaron felt warmth in his chest and looked down at Seabury who had taken an interest in licking his feet. Maybe this could all turn out okay and Aaron wouldn’t be forced to do anything that went against his policies, certainly not for Daredevil.

**~*~*~**

It had been a month since that day at the precinct when Aaron began doubting his side of things and he was still no closer to deciding what he wanted to do about everything, not really. Thankfully, though he would drop hints, Alexander didn't hound him as much about it. The vigilante was a different story. He would visit Burr at least twice a week and keep pressing him to do something, to act, but Aaron was waiting to see which way the wind would blow, he wouldn't act without concrete evidence.

Still, his allegations regarding Aaron’s police department were weighing on him. Lee and Benedict got off scot free for shooting the British thug seeing as how the CCTV was conveniently down in the room and they corroborated each other’s stories to a tee but something about it still rubbed Aaron the wrong way. He wondered if he would’ve felt this way about it if the vigilante hadn’t planted a seed of doubt in his mind or if Alexander hadn’t been there that day and immediately started questioning them but now that the doubts were there they wouldn’t leave and Aaron found himself dwelling on it more and more. He was already distantly polite to all of his co-workers but he distanced himself more, even from Van Ness who, dare he say, he considered a friend. They worked closely together so Aaron’s change in behavior couldn’t escape his notice for long and it didn’t.

“Hey, are you okay?” Van Ness asked as they sat in their car on the curb eating lunch.

“I’m fine, why would you ask?”

“Because you’ve been acting strange lately. It’s not Sally, is it? Did she get worse?”

“No, no. Sally’s stable, no better or worse than before.”

“Then what’s been going on with you?"

"Nothing. You shouldn't be focused on me, you should worry about you. How are things with Maria?"

"Deflection isn't going to work. You’ve been distant. Well, more distant than usual.”

“I’m just… trying to decide something.”

“What is it?” Aaron looked at Van Ness. The man had been his partner for years, he had confided in Aaron and Aaron had trusted him enough to confide in him and that was rare for him. It would devastate him if he found out that Van Ness, this man he trusted, was a liar and a criminal. This was the part of trust that Aaron had trouble hurtling over. Putting himself out on the line and taking a chance was hard for him but he had done it with Hamilton and if he could do it with him, he could do it with Van Ness.

“You remember a little over a month ago when Lee and Arnold had to shoot that perp?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Something just doesn’t seem right. Something is off.”

“How do you mean?”

“How did he get out of his handcuffs? They said he picked it but we didn’t find anything he could’ve done it with. Why did the cameras stop working then of all times? They were checked out a week before and they were fine. Why were they the ones questioning him in the first place? We arrested him, it should’ve been us.”

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down, Aaron. On one hand I’m happy you’re talking to me, on the other hand you’re talking about our station courting corruption.”

“I know. I didn’t want to believe that, I mean I don’t believe that, not yet. I just… I have doubts. That abandoned house on 17th should have had a patrol on duty every night passing by.”

“It did. Lee and Arnold were assigned to that block.” Van Ness said, his voice heavy with implication.

“And that house went unreported until an anonymous tip sent by Daredevil came to us.” Van Ness sat back heavily at that.

“Well shit. If anyone’s going to be dirty it’d be those two but still, shit.”

“I mean, I’m not sure but if there is even a chance…”

“We have to do something about it.” Aaron nodded and Van Ness suddenly smiled.

“I’m surprised though.” He said.

“About what?”

“That you’re telling me this, that you’re even pursuing this. What brought this on?” Aaron shrugged.

“I’m… not sure. I don’t know. I don’t even know if I want to do this but if I do I can’t do it alone.”

“You’re my partner, Burr. I’m by your side on this, you know that.” Aaron nodded and smiled genuinely at the other man.

“Thank you.”

“We’ll pick this up tomorrow, we can start trying to map everything out together. For now, let’s focus on our work today.”

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." Aaron felt like the largest weight was off of his shoulders now and breathed a little easier without the extra load on him.

**~*~*~**

Aaron entered his apartment, fully expecting Hamilton to be there. It felt like in the time that passed he had very nearly moved into Aaron’s apartment. He was always there with Seabury. Aaron pretended to be annoyed by it, Hamilton was overstepping boundaries. He’d even made his own profile on Aaron’s Netflix account but really Aaron didn’t mind it at all. Alexander would breeze in wearing pajamas and start raiding Aaron's kitchen in order to make them dinner, all without Aaron's permission and he wouldn't leave despite Aaron's halfhearted orders for him to go. Instead they would lounge on the couch together with Seabury in one of their laps or between them and Hamilton would give a running commentary on every and anything. Aaron should be annoyed by it but he wasn’t, he even threw in his two cents sometimes which made Alexander smile so widely that Aaron felt stutters in his chest that he didn’t really want to investigate. Now he didn’t bother questioning Alexander’s presence anymore or whether or not he actually ever saw a boundary he didn’t want to hurl himself over, instead he dwelt on the fact that it actually felt good to come home to someone every night. Even when Theodosia was alive he didn’t get to experience this. It felt better than he was willing to admit.

“Hey!” Alexander said upon Aaron’s entry into his apartment with a wide smile on his perpetually bruised face. Aaron stopped asking after a while about his injuries. Hamilton always had some outrageous story behind it. Aaron was convinced he was in an underground fight club or something. He should be concerned about the amount of suspicious activity which could allude to crime, however petty, he was allowing to slip by with Hamilton but it wasn't like he could arrest him for anything on a gut feeling or like he would.

“Hello Alexander.”

“I made dinner for us.” Aaron rolled his eyes as he shut the door and bent down to pet Seabury. He had healed nicely from his wounds from what Aaron had observed. Mostly because, unlike Hamilton, he didn't keep sustaining injuries.

“What am I going to have to replace?”

“Nothing. I actually went grocery shopping myself and bought the ingredients for this. Mind you it’s nothing big, just pelau with a side of chicken roti.”

“I know what roti is, what’s pelau?”

“It’s a dish my mom would make all the time when we lived in Nevis. It’s rice, pigeon peas and your choice of meat. For mine I put curried goat, is that okay?”

“It's fine but I thought you said it wasn't much.” Aaron said incredulously as he looked over the cooling plates stacked full of delicious Caribbean food.

“Oh please, this is nothing. After we came to America, every first Sunday of the month after my mom got our monthly food stamps she would cook up a feast for us. We’d have leftovers for days. Trust me, this is nothing.” Aaron smiled at him slightly as Alexander took a moment to be lost in his nostalgia.

“My grandmother would do something similar on Sundays. After my grandfather retired from the force they got a ranch in Jersey and my grandfather worked as a preacher out there. After church half of the congregation would come over for dinner. My grandmother was from down south and she'd cook up tandem amount to a Thanksgiving feast on and still manage to have leftovers even though she fixed everyone a plate to take home.” Alexander gave him a smile that was obviously trying not to be a smile. Aaron recognized it of course. Whenever he shared something about himself Hamilton would give him this trying-not-to-smile smile, he’d duck his head and try to hide it and it wouldn’t work. Aaron would reluctantly find it cute.

Aaron shook his head free of the nagging notion and went over to the counter to grab his plate but Hamilton slapped his hand away.

“Nuh-uh, you go take a shower and change into comfortable clothes and then we can stretch out on the couch for some entertainment via Netflix.”

“Jeez Mom, layoff.”

“Go.” Hamilton said, shooing him away. Aaron bit down the comment about Alexander bossing him around in his own house and went to wash the grime of the day off himself before joining Hamilton on the couch where he had already brought Aaron’s plate and a glass of juice to rest on the coffee table.

“Okay, so what are we watching?” Aaron said sitting next to Hamilton but he didn’t answer him, instead he was engrossed in the television. It was playing the news giving a rundown of the latest attacks on crime made by Daredevil as well as the deadlier actions performed by the vigilante that civilians were dubbing the Punisher.

“More of this? I don’t want to hear about any caped crusaders tonight, definitely not Daredevil. I’m supposed to be relaxing so Netflix, if you please.” Alexander flipped to Netflix silently and surfed through some things before suddenly turning to Aaron.

“Why do you hate Daredevil?”

“What? I don’t hate him.”

“Right because every time you talk about him you’re just glowing with adoration and respect.”

“Hamilton—”

“I told you to call me Alexander.”

“ _Alexander_ , why do you care so much about what I think of this guy?”

“I care about what you think of things in general but I just want to understand this. Did he do something to you?”

“No.”

“Has he gotten in the way of your work somehow?”

“Nothing too horrible I guess.”

“Then what is it? I mean it’s not like you’re jealous of him or something.” Aaron couldn’t bring himself to answer that immediately, couldn’t make himself lie to Alexander. The other man’s eyes widened and shone with shock, confusion and Aaron thought he detected fear as well.

“You’re not… you’re not jealous of him. No, no. I mean you can’t be. Why would be jealous of…”

“Alexander, calm down. You’d think I just told you Seabury was dead or something.” Aaron said, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder. He didn’t know why he was so taken aback and thrown off by the confession. Aaron had confessed other things he held closer to chest than this to Alexander. In the grand scheme of his life, beyond the annoyance and the moral questions the asshole in red forced him to confront, the guy didn’t figure into his life much and yet his existence caused Aaron to re-evaluate and question things.

“I just, I don’t get it.” Aaron sighed before launching into his story.

“Before William, I had a partner named Theodosia. She and I were… we were close.”

“Did you love her?”

“I-yes. Yes, I did. She was killed by some asshole on the street. Just a guy who held her up while she was off duty. I was supposed to be with her but I wasn’t there, I wasn’t there to protect her. A month later the man in black who would one day become Daredevil became a headline in the newspaper. All these things he can do, the almost inhuman ways he can protect people and he couldn’t protect her.” Alexander softened significantly at that.

“Aaron, first of all Theodosia’s death is not your fault. You couldn’t have known and if you were there you could be dead now too which would be horrible. Secondly, Daredevil, as good as he is, he's just a man. He isn’t God. He can’t be everywhere at once. People are still dying every second he’s out there. I’m sure he realizes that just as much if not more than you do. And it must hurt to not be able to stop people from being hurt completely but he’s still doing something. You don’t stop being a cop even when you lose a suspect or can’t save a victim, I don’t stop being a lawyer if I lose a case. It’s the same thing with him. The world keeps spinning and we’re still here and it’s up to us to fight now and keep fighting, if only to preserve and honor the memories of those who didn’t survive. And thirdly, you don’t need to be jealous of him Aaron. You’re a hero. You’ve been putting your life out on the line before he ever had the thought to put a mask on his face and you do it in broad daylight. You don’t hide in the shadows. You’re brave and kind and selfless and you have really good ideas whenever you choose to share them and you care about people a lot even if you act like you don’t sometimes and you don’t ask for anything from the world, not really. You’re better than him. Trust me, you really are. He should be jealous of you.” Alexander’s eyes were moist at the end of his impassioned speech, the orbs glowing with such intense emotion as they burned into Aaron’s that he couldn’t decipher what feelings were lurking beneath for him.

“Thank you.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, no problem. Um, we should watch Netflix now.” Alexander said, clapping his hands together and resolutely trying not to stare at Aaron as he wiped his eyes free of any trace of tears.

“Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.”

“Yeah, yeah. You can choose.” Alexander said handing the remote to Aaron.

Aaron looked through his options. He could’ve chosen some action flick but he wasn’t in the mood for explosions. He could go for a documentary but he doubted it would help lift Hamilton’s mood from the nosedive it had taken. Ultimately he chose ‘How to Get Away with Murder’. Whenever they watched legal dramas, Hamilton got ridiculously passionate about inaccuracies and how he would’ve defended a client as opposed to how the TV lawyers did. Sometimes Aaron liked listening to Alexander’s rambles and watched him debate with himself over things. Aaron would even throw something in every once in a while just to see him catch a second wind of indignation about something.

He watched him gesture wildly and scream at the television and insult the prosecutor. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as he watched him in his element. If this was two months or even a month ago he probably would’ve been very annoyed but now all of his attention was focused on Alexander, his words drawing him in.

“I mean obviously Annalise is basically me in exaggerated TV form but that prosecutor, Sinclair? Oh I can think of at least 10 ways I could destroy her in court. One she wasn’t—what?” Alexander asked, cutting himself off suddenly and looking at Aaron.

“Huh?” Aaron asked.

“You’re staring at me.” Alexander said, something like a nervous laugh in his voice. Aaron realized that he had his elbow leaning against the back of the couch and that he was staring at Alexander intensely. He immediately rearranged himself so he wasn’t doing so.

“I-I didn’t notice.” Aaron tried to refocus on the television but he could feel Alexander’s gaze on the side of his face.

“What?” Now it was Aaron nervously laughing and trying to ignore the tension rising in the room.

“I just… I’m thinking about things.”

"What things?"

"You. The way you were looking at me just now, the way I've been looking at you when you're not paying attention."

“Well, I… I mean—”

“Look at me. I need you to look at me.” Aaron weighed that in his head. He was afraid. He was afraid of what he would see in Alexander’s eyes, he was afraid of what Alexander would see in his eyes, he was afraid of what could happen. He was afraid of nothing happening at all which put him in a peculiar position.

“ _Aaron_.” Alexander’s voice was imploring and Aaron didn’t have much choice in turning his head towards him. He felt like the breath was knocked out of him as their eyes connected. Alexander’s gaze was heavy and full of all of the emotions that Aaron tried to push down and ignore: the longing, the begrudging affection, the want, the question about Aaron’s feelings and the realization that Aaron might share those feelings.

“Aaron.” Alexander said his name like it was a full thought but Aaron wanted to know, he wanted to know all that Alexander wanted to say to him.

“Yes?”

“I…” Alexander trailed off, shaking his head at himself before he began leaning in towards Aaron. Aaron’s eyes fluttered closed as Alexander got close enough to him for his breath to brush across Aaron’s lips. The sensation sent shivers down his spine that only intensified when Alexander finally, _**finally**_ closed the distance between them and their lips met.

His lips burned slightly on contact, the spices and curry in their dinner stinging at the soft, sensitive tissue of Aaron’s lips but he pulled him in closer, one of his hands burying itself into Alexander’s hair while the other wrapped around his shoulders. Alexander's arms soon found their way around Aaron’s waist as he tilted his head to the side slightly in order to deepen the kiss. Aaron gasped slightly when Alexander’s tongue ran across his lower lip before he parted them and let their tongues meet. His fingers tightened involuntarily in Alexander’s hair drawing a groan from him. He gasped again as Alexander abruptly changed their positions, his arms around his waist moving Aaron so he was laying beneath him and Alexander’s body was pressing him into the couch. Aaron pulled them even closer together while Alexander's hips ground against his and he began kissing and sucking down his throat. His breath came harsher as arousal started burning low in his stomach.

“Alexander.” He moaned throwing his head back even more before the spell he was under was broken by the sound of someone knocking at the door. He froze along with Alexander and listened. The knock came again and Aaron realized it wasn’t his door it was Alexander’s. They looked at each other and Aaron checked his watch.

“It’s almost 11pm. Is it someone in your crew?” Alexander’s eyes widened.

“Eleven? Shit, I’m late.” Alexander disentangled himself from Aaron and made for the door just as a voice sounded.

“Hey Red, I don’t have all night you know! Are we doing this or not?!” The voice sounded vaguely familiar to him and he got up and silently approached behind him as Alexander opened the door and peaked out.

“Stop screaming and don’t call me that.” Aaron peaked out past Hamilton’s shoulder to the figure dressed all in black.

“Maria?” Hamilton looked back at him and then looked at Maria.

“You know each other?”

“She’s my partner’s roommate. How do you know each other?”

“She’s…”

“I work as a secretary at his law firm. We were supposed to meet tonight for work.” Maria was looking between them with a cold sort of interest. Aaron looked away from her as Alexander turned to him.

“I’m sorry. I, uh, I gotta go but I’ll be back, soon, well tomorrow, in-in the morning. Well, after you get off of work tomorrow you’ll see me. You _will_ see me.” Alexander leaned in and kissed him once more before making his way out of the apartment and to his own. Aaron closed the door and listened to the muffled sounds of Alexander and Maria moving around his apartment until they left, locking the door behind them. Aaron returned to the couch where Seabury now was sprawled out on his back, his tongue lolling out as he looked at Aaron with his head cocked to the side. He looked down at the dog before smiling broadly to himself, his lips tingling with the aftertaste of Alexander. Everything finally felt right to him.

**~*~*~**

Aaron walked into work with an extra pep in his step the next day and not even Lee's backhanded jests could destroy his mood.

"You're not limping like a pole was just shoved up your ass so did you pay some poor prostitute with daddy-issues to give you a fix?" Lee asked, looking at Benedict with a smirk.

"Have much experience with that ilk, Charles? Don't worry, I'm sure your princess will come some day to sweep you off of your barely competent feet." Aaron replied giving him a venomous smirk as he sat in front of his computer. Lee sneered at him as Van Ness walked into the room giving Aaron a slightly incredulous look.

"Look who learned how to bite back." Benedict commented with an air of disbelief.

"Well, there's only so much interest Lee can have with my love life before I begin to question things on his end. Sorry to say Charles but you're not really my type." Van Ness barked a surprised sort of laughter as he looked at Aaron with an appreciative eye. Lee turned a sort of red and stomped out of the room, mumbling to himself.

"You keep this up Burr and Van Ness isn't going to be able to protect you from the reality of working in this place much longer." Aaron furrowed his eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Arnold." Van Ness said firmly, no trace of a smile on his face.

"All I'm saying is that the little dog has got some bite in him. He won't need you soon, he might even rise through the ranks and leave you behind Willie."

"I'm not leaving William anywhere. Especially not in the frying pan with you, Eggs." Benedict rolled his eyes at the nickname and walked away after Lee.

"Why do I feel like you guys were having a different conversation than me?" Aaron asked his partner. Van Ness looked at him with a slightly troubled expression before he wiped it off with a smile.

"Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over. What I want to know is what the hell happened between our conversation in the car yesterday and today that's got you so verbose and chipper?" Aaron paused wondering if he should tell him before shaking his head. Of course he could tell him. It was William. He already knew things about him that Aaron had only ever told his sister, Theo and Alexander. Of course he could know about this.

"Actually, I was with Hamilton last night." Aaron said, typing some things on the computer to avoid Van Ness's look.

"Really? I didn't peg you for a sex-before-the-first-date guy?"

"We did not have sex. We just kissed."

"Really?" Van Ness said with disbelief.

"I'm serious! We only kissed."

"Mm-hmm."

"Maybe we would've done more." Aaron allowed.

"Ah-ha!"

"But we were interrupted by your girlfriend."

"Maria was at your place?"

"One: I knew she was your girlfriend."

"She's not--"

"Too late, you already admitted it. Two: why didn't you tell me she works at Alexander's office?"

"She... I actually didn't know she worked with Hamilton."

"You don't know where you live-in girlfriend works?"

"I mean, obviously I know she's a lawyer Aaron. I just didn't know she worked at Washington, Jefferson and Green." Aaron looked away from his computer and gave Van Ness a look.

"She told me she was the secretary."

"Oh, um..."

"William, what's going on?"

"I... uh... honestly?"

"Ideally."

"Maria and I are complicated."

"You don't say. So complicated that you don't know what her job is and she shows up to other men's house at 11 pm."

"She wasn't going to infringe on your territory, don't worry. She and Hamilton do... freelance work together."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring."

"Nothing sexual, I promise. Alexander is all yours and he isn't involved in any backwoods stuff. The work they do together is more... legal and investigative work."

"Sounds like something police officers or detectives should be doing, not a lawyer and a lawyer/secretary/unknown."

"Aaron, trust me, it's nothing you need to know about. Trust me when I say I'm doing everything I need to do to keep everyone safe."

"Keep everyone safe? Alexander's been on a kick about George King, he thinks he's paying dirty police officers. How much do you know about this?"

"Not too much, Maria's told me some things but..." Van Ness shrugged.

"So what I told you in the car...?"

"That's the first I was hearing specific names but the concept of corruption in here wasn't completely foreign to me thanks to Hamilton."

"He isn't doing anything stupid, is he?"

"It's Hamilton but I'm trying. I don't want you involved though."

"I'm a grown man, I can handle myself Van Ness. You don't need to hold my hand."

"Either way Alexander's your almost-boyfriend so this is a conversation best continued between you and him before we talk about it any further. I want you to be happy and with Alexander you've been coming in here happier than I've seen you since Theodosia was still here." Aaron looked away at the mention.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. Just be happy, Aaron. You deserve it."

"I will be, I'm going to see him again tonight." Aaron said with a smile before turning serious.

"We'll talk I guess but you and I need to talk now about what's going on around here." **** ~~~~

"We will. I'm sorry I've been keeping things from you but it's probably not a good idea to talk about it here with them around." Van Ness said.

"We can go outside to talk."

"I just think we should wait until we're at my place. We can talk about it later, I promise. Besides, I want to know more about you and Hamilton. Is he a good kisser? I don't think the guy stops talking long enough to get much practice in." Aaron hesitated a moment before smiling.

He did not mind speaking with William about Hamilton, he was excited to talk to someone about it actually. They could talk about Van Ness being an overprotective asshat and Alexander's shenanigans with him and Maria later. Right now Aaron just wanted to chat with his friend about their love lives and maybe he'd manage to wean some straight answers from him about Maria. He wanted Van Ness to be happy just as much if not more than he wanted Aaron to be happy and against all leanings to the contrary just thinking about Hamilton genuinely made Aaron happy.

**~*~*~**

Aaron walked into his apartment at the end of the day and fully expected to see Hamilton there. He had spent the whole day on a high, replaying the kiss over and over again in his head and going over what he might say to Alexander tonight when they talked. Aaron had to laugh at himself. He was grinning while thinking about a future with the man whose murder he plotted every sleepless night not three months prior but this was finally something to look forward to.

He walked further into his living room as he heard Seabury whining. Hamilton probably forgot to walk him again or something. He couldn't even find the will to be upset about it.

"You know Alexander, seeing as how you stole this dog the least you could do is..." He trailed off as he walked into the living room then stopped abruptly, his smile falling from his face as he saw a man he didn’t recognize holding a whimpering Seabury in his lap. Aaron took a step back only to run into someone’s chest. He turned around to see a large man with a gun standing behind him. The man behind him pushed him into the room while the man on the couch looked him up and down.

“ _Off-i-cer Aar-on Burr_.” The man on his couch enunciated each syllable as if it was its own word and looked at him with a slightly manic expression, a wild smile on his face.

“Is he one of mine?” He asked a man beside him. The man whispered indistinctly in his ear.

“Oh, shame. I was looking for poor Seabury here only to stumble upon something even better. Usually the nuisance in the mask couldn’t care less about police officers, something we have in common I suppose. But you? You, Officer Burr, our vigilante calls for in particular to one of my outhouses, you he has conversations with on rooftops. Did you know that he walks you home at night sometimes, that he watches out for you on patrol more times than not? I would’ve killed you twice already if it weren’t for the vigilante. It's sweet really, I could almost shed a tear." Aaron looked at him with confusion. 

"Don't worry I wasn't going to kill you just to kill you. Van Ness, says that you're too soft to be one of mine. Benedict and Lee liken you to Seabury here, a little dog constantly nipping at your feet for attention, an annoyance that's more bark than bite except without the bark as well. William, on the other hand, seems to have some kind of affection for you. However, as much as he insists on vouching for you, I can't have you taking up space that could be occupied by someone under my employ."

"You're lying. Van Ness would never work for you."

"Of course he would. I happen to pay very handsomely. You would know if you were worth my time but I have no use for cops too soft to do my work. You would be dead already if not for Daredevil.” Why would Daredevil care to watch out for him? The man on his couch who Aaron was suspecting was probably George King seemed to read the question on his face.

“I don’t know what makes you any more special to him than anyone else on the street and I was going to come here and shoot you but I think I’d like for him to answer that question more than I would like to see your insides spewed around this room.” The man behind Aaron grabbed him suddenly and he started fighting against him. He tried to grabbed onto anything he could reach before the man could drag him outside but he couldn’t grasp anything, all he heard was crashing and glass breaking and Seabury’s barking and whining before everything went black.

**~*~*~**

Aaron didn’t think he’d ever been in this much pain before. Not even living with his aunt could compare to the agony he was in now as King’s crew beat him relentlessly while King watched, maliciously giggling at his pain while Seabury whined pitifully besides him, his poor body chained to a post so his feet were off the ground and he dangled helplessly. There was nothing Aaron could about it, they dragged he and Seabury to a small, secluded parking garage and now he was stuck here with no back up. There was too many of them and most of them had weapons, bats or crowbars which they had no qualms about using on him anyway. He had already lost two teeth thanks to them. His face was drenched in blood thanks to a bleeding cut across his forehead and one on his scalp. He was sure he was riddled with bruises with only more to come and he was certain three of his fingers on his left hand was broken. All the while George King sat there asking him to reveal Daredevil's true identity, not believing him when he said he didn't know.

 _"You'll be back."_ He'd say whenever Aaron passed out and sure enough he'd wake to one of the thug's boots in his stomach. He had woken up at one point to see Lee and Arnold there looking at him blankly. Aaron hadn't cared, it just confirmed what he knew and he would've carried on not caring if Van Ness hadn't walked into the room. He had looked at Aaron with a myriad of emotions as he sat there devastated at his partner's betrayal. That had been some time ago and Aaron was still here with nothing and no one but a mad man. He coughed roughly as one of them kicked him in the ribs before pulling him up to rest against a concrete column.

"I don't enjoy this, you know. Pointless violence. Now violence with meaning, _mmm_ , that's what's _amazing_. A kiss with a fist so to speak. You're tough, I'll give you that. It reminds me of my last love. That last Daredevil copycat, the gun-wielding girl, what was her name?" King rambled before a man whispered in his ear.

"Ah yes, Peggy Schuyler. She was a doozie to put down. She possessed paramilitary training and a vendetta because I may or may not have killed her father but she was fun. Oh, I loved her. I’d send her a letter telling her I’d kill her friends and family to remind her of my love, she’d tell me to fuck off.” He giggled wildly now.

“Oh, she was magnificent. Then I killed her sisters and that put a damper on the romance. I was heartbroken by it when I had to have Van Ness kill her, I couldn’t bear to do it myself.” King got up now and made his way to Aaron staring in his face.

“I can see some of her fire in your eyes, Officer Burr. Now, I’m going to make you a proposition. You can come with me and accept my love or I can send a fully-armed battalion of my police force to your sister’s house. It’d be a shame for little Erin and Henry to be taken from the world so soon.”

“Stay the hell away from my family or I swear to God--!”

“You’ll what? Your hero isn’t here to save you and I’m giving you an out here because any other way would end with you dead. I’m offering you my love and a life or a painful death. I’d choose wisely.” Aaron looked at him thinking about Sally along with his niece and nephew being killed, maybe even by Van Ness, his partner who had betrayed him. He struggled with how to answer this. If he died now he would be no good to anyone but if he let King keep him as his pet for a short time then Aaron could think more on this and figure a way out of this.

“I--” Aaron was about to answer, and honestly he didn’t know what he was going to say, when the lights suddenly went out. He looked around the room as King’s men looked around panicked, guns drawn. Aaron held his breath when suddenly there was a flurry of motion and two of King’s men fell. The other men started shooting in that direction but more and more of them fell around the room. Aaron ducked as bullets flew and men fell either by friendly fire or the new presence that Aaron just knew had to be Daredevil. The man himself suddenly appeared in front of Aaron and King.

“I wouldn’t or your little pet project gets a bullet in the head.” Aaron looked over to King, he had a gun trained on him and was looking at Daredevil with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t you dare.” Daredevil growled, his modified voice rumbling through the garage causing King to laugh.

“You don’t have much of a leg to stand on here. I’ve been trying to get your attention for so long and I kidnap a police officer so dull and nonthreatening that I didn’t bother paying him off and you swoop in. A little late to the ball Cinderella, but you’re here nonetheless. I suppose your attendance is what counts.” Aaron flinched as King gestured towards him cavalierly with the hand that held the gun. He did not intend to be accidentally shot just as he was being saved. 

“What do you want from him?”

“I wanted to learn your identity but now that you’re here I’ll just learn it from you. Remove your mask. I want to see your face, the face of the man who has been such a thorn in my side.” Daredevil was quiet and stared at him.

“In case you’re wondering, this isn’t a choice. If you don’t he will die in front of you and all the work you’ve put into protecting him will be for nothing. It’s your choice. Is your identity worth his life?”

“You have to promise that you won’t hurt Aaron if I reveal my identity to you.”

“I am quite fond of him. He knows how to take an inordinate amount of abuse with little to no protest, so I suppose that’s not a deal I’m loath to make.”

Aaron looked at the vigilante. He was staring at him with his emotionless red eyes and Aaron was having a hard time trying to figure out why he was so important to this man. He didn’t know him from Adam, in fact the man openly showed disregard and disdain towards him. Why would he go out of his way to protect him?

“I’m sorry, Aaron. I didn’t want to tell you this way.” Aaron looked at him with a greater sense of confusion as Daredevil removed his cowl. Aaron saw his hair first, a silky waterfall that fell out of the mask around his cheeks. He raised his face then, looking at Aaron with remorse and guilt and sadness and Aaron felt gut-punched.

“Alexander?” He was sure his voice broke on the last syllable.

“I was going to tell you, I was. It just... everything got so... and you were... and then we... I’m sorry Aaron, I’m sorry.” Aaron was shaking his head to himself in disbelief.

“This whole time...” This whole time Alexander had been lying to his face. Alexander had been interfering in his life. Alexander had been pushing him to investigate this and now it led to him beat up in a garage betrayed by all of his friends. Alexander had deceived him just as much as Van Ness had. This whole time Aaron had been falling in love with Alexander and it was partly built on a lie.

“Awesome... wow!” George King broke through sarcastically.

“I’m not in the mood for the lover’s spat at the moment.”

“Let Aaron go, you promised.”

“I promised I wouldn’t hurt him and I won’t, not much at least. Pain can give way to pleasure. He’s mine to subdue now.” Aaron shivered slightly as police sirens began to sound in the distance getting closer to their position.

“And my pals are here to help out. Even better. You know vigilante, this has been fun, I must say. I haven’t felt quite so alive as when we were talking, not since Peggy, but God you sure know how to get a man’s blood pumping. It’s a shame it has to end but as is life.” King turned the gun towards Alexander and cocked it.

“Wait!” Aaron shouted as best he could when a gunshot rang out through the room. Aaron stared at Alexander in horror, fully expecting him to fall down on the floor bleeding but instead Aaron felt King drop beside him. He was bleeding from his chest as footsteps drew closer to them. Aaron looked over only to see Maria standing there, a large automatic rifle in her hands.

“Maria? What are you doing here?”

“It’s Peggy actually, Maria was just a front."

"What happened?" Alexander asked.

"When Van Ness saw King had Aaron he called it in, said this whole operation went too far. Chief Knox brought Arnold and Lee in already and some more of this prick's men. We have enough to charge them anyway and whoever we don't have we can get Arnold and Lee to flip on with the right persuasion."

"What is happening?" Aaron mumbled but the others didn't seem to hear him.

“Margaret! It’s so lovely to see you. It's been much too long, my love.” King called even though he was on the floor bleeding out. Maria or Peggy or Margaret, whoever she was, stepped on the wound he had, drawing a shout of pain from him.

“I’m not your love. You’re lucky it’s not your brain I was aiming for.” She replied, her voice full of cold hatred and ire. Aaron shook his head trying to pay attention, trying to make this make a modicum of sense but it wasn't registering in his brain.

"What is going on?" He said but once again went ignored.

“Peggy, ease up.” Aaron looked over as Van Ness entered the room. He shrank back unable to process everything that was happening, it was all happening so fast.

"I should've shot the dirtbag in the head." She sneered.

"That would've got you life in prison rather than the cushy mental institution your cooperation bought you, darling."

"Would've been worth it. It's not like I would've been there for very long anyway and at least he would be dead."

"I'm not going to argue with you about the merits of his death." Alexander commented. Aaron felt all of his confusion bubbling up to something else for him.

"Will someone explain to me what is happening?!" He shouted and now everyone was looking at him as he stared up at them through the blood dripping down his face, his chest heaving with his labored breaths.

"Oh dear, I think he's cracking." King commented garnering a kick from Maria. Van Ness knelt down and reached out an arm to him. He jerked away from him and ignored the flash of hurt on his face. None of them had a right to question him right now.

“Aaron, calm down. I know this is confusing right now but we’ve got the cops here." Aaron scoffed.

"The clean ones, the good guys are right outside and the ambulance is on its way.” Aaron shook his head. He didn't know how to tell the good guys from the bad guys anymore because the good guys _were_ the bad guys and the bad or at the very least morally grey guys were his almost-boyfriend. This was too much for him and he found himself swaying slightly while he was stuck in his own head.

“Is he going to be okay?” Alexander asked. His mask was back on and his voice was modulated once more. Aaron looked between the four people in the room.

George, an insane guy who had developed some weird twisted love for him in the course of the two-hour torture session he imposed on him.

Peggy, a murderous vigilante who was doing this because of George apparently and was somehow involved with the police enough to live with one and fake her identity.

Van Ness, who may or may not be dirty and may or may not have betrayed him but at the very least lied to him.

Alexander, who was living a secret double life behind his back.

Aaron was running on adrenaline for the most part but now that it was fading he felt the ache of his wounds down in his bones, he felt the terror he’d been holding back crash into him, he felt the range of emotions from anger to sadness well up in him and he braced from the explosion that would surely wreak havoc on him but instead he saw black spots popping up in his vision as his head started to spin. He fell back slightly and either Alexander or Van Ness caught him and lowered him to the floor. He was passed out by the time they laid him down.

**~*~*~**

After the mess with King, Aaron refused to see anyone while he was in the hospital. He was treated for three broken fingers and a broken wrist on his left hand, three cracked ribs and two bruised ones, and a whole lot of lacerations and bruises all over his body. His face took quite the beating, his eyes resembled a raccoon's. But Aaron took it all in stride and did it alone. Sally wanted to visit but Aaron didn't want her to overexert herself. Van Ness tried but Aaron refused. Chief Knox tried but Aaron blew him off. He let Officer Montgomery question him about what happened between him and King and nothing further. Alexander had come by almost every day but Aaron was vehement about his refusal to see him. The nurses tried to convince him to allow at least one visitor but Aaron remained steadfast in his refusal. He just wasn't ready to deal with anyone.

He watched the news a lot. He learned that Van Ness worked as a double or a triple agent. He had infiltrated King's group of dirty cops so he could get information on them and King to bring his whole empire down. The woman Aaron thought was Maria Reynolds was actually Margaret Schuyler also known around their station as the Punisher, former target of George King's amorous obsessions and vigilante who killed anyone remotely connected to King's operations. She would get a lighter sentence for her murderous extracurricular activities for her actions working with the police. Aaron wondered if Alexander would represent her then cut that line of thought off. He didn't want to think of him because he would inevitably dwell on how he was lied to by him.

When he got out of the hospital he went to his sister's house. His place was technically still an active crime scene and he didn't want to be near Alexander anyway lest he say something he wouldn't be able to take back. He was glad to spend time with his sister anyway but he was foolish to think she wouldn't pick up on his mood.

"Erin said you needed me." Aaron said to Sally as she lay bedridden. She beckoned him over and he slid gingerly into the bed beside her, resting his head on her shoulder. They'd always been close. So close she named her daughter after him.

"I know you've been off. Too quiet and distant."

"I've just been doing a lot of thinking.

"Care to share?"

"I found out someone I care about a lot was lying to me about something pretty big practically since we’ve met.”

“Van Ness has been calling every day to explain why he didn’t tell you about the sting operation. He said he didn’t want to put you in harm’s way and I agree, I’m glad you weren’t involved with anything to do with George King. That guy is a bag of crazy, not that I need to tell you.”

“It isn’t about Van Ness, not completely anyway. It’s about my… well, I don’t even know what he is to me but I do know that he’s been lying to me and I know that it changes the entire dynamic of our relationship.”

“And whatever it is, you’re not overreacting?” Aaron gave Sally a look at that.

“Okay, noted.” Aaron sighed and burrowed further into her side like he did when he was young. She ran her fingers over his scalp comfortingly, avoiding the stitches there, and let them stew in silence for a moment.

“You care about him, whoever he is. I can tell. I think you might love him. The question is are you going to let this lie break you or are you going to work on this and move past it? You don’t have to forgive him right away but you should talk to him, get answers and closure if nothing else and see where he stands and you know, once you talk to him you might learn that where you stand is different from what you think now.”

“Why do you have to be so smart?”

“It’s a terrible burden.” Sally quipped.

**~*~*~**

On the day Aaron left his sister's house he was left to lug his one suitcase down the stairs of her brownstone on his own as her husband, as useless as ever, was too busy with his television show to help him. That was fine by Aaron, the less time they spent together the better. He was taking the stairs slowly when suddenly his suitcase flew from his hand. He looked up in alarm, wondering if someone was truly robbing him but his slight panic dissipated into slight annoyance when he saw it was just Van Ness who had brought his suitcase down the stairs and now turned towards him. He stopped short when he saw the glare Aaron was fixing on him and put his hands in his pocket rocking back and forth on his heels. Van Ness hated rocking back and forth on his heels, he never did it unless he was nervous and he was rarely nervous. Aaron decided to have mercy, if only a little bit, and eased up on his glower.

"Hi." He said in a short tone. 

"Hey. You look a little better."

"I look like shit." At the very least the swelling was down but his face was still tandem amount to a bruise.

"You're not drenched in blood so I'd say you look better than you did last time I saw you."

"What are you doing here? I said I didn't want to see anyone."

"I know you did and I understand why but Sally called me, she said you needed a ride. She didn't want you going home alone and her husband was apparently too busy to drop you off."

"Too lazy, more like. Still I can walk home." Van Ness looked up at him with a sharp look.

"Don't be stubborn, Aaron. There's no way I'm letting you walk home."

"Letting me? You seem to be operating under the delusion that you can control me. Please disabuse yourself of this notion, sir." Van Ness sighed.

"Aaron... it's just a ride home. It'll get you there in 15 minutes, 20 minutes tops while walking will take you an hour if not more and cause you physical pain you don't need to be in. I just want to make sure you're okay and safe." Aaron held stubborn for just a moment more before one of his ribs started throbbing painfully, breaking through his resolve.

"Fine but you're not taking me upstairs. You're just dropping me off." He made to walk down the stairs but Van Ness was immediately by his side guiding him down and taking his weight despite his protests that he could get along by himself just fine. Van Ness collected him into the car, put his suitcase in the back and then got in the driver's seat before peeling off. The car was silent for a moment before he began to talk again.

"I'm not going to apologize for it." Aaron looked at him incredulously.

"Really? Hell of a way to start this out, that's bold of you."

"I was keeping you safe."

"Unnecessarily. I am a grown man. Why do I need to keep reiterating that to you? I can handle myself even though you don't seem to think so."

"This isn't about your capabilities or competence, I'm aware of what you can do. I'm impressed by you more than not. I didn't tell you so I could protect you. I didn't want anyone involved in the operation who didn't have to be."

"Yet you involved Alexander."

"I didn't involve him, Peggy did and once he was there I couldn't get him to go away. You know how he is." Aaron rolled his eyes but nodded. Alexander was a pest that wouldn't leave once he found a spot he like. The car was silent again before Aaron spoke up.

"Did you know who he was?"

"No." Aaron side-eyed him, not sure if he could trust what Van Ness was saying.

"I'm not lying to you, Aaron." William's voice sounded downtrodden and sad but Aaron couldn't just will himself to mend the trust that was now broken between them.

"When did you find out?"

"The day King took you. He only ever came to me as Alexander, not as Daredevil. We worked on legally putting these guys away along with the DA's office that was conducting the investigation and overseeing the undercover part. I guess Alexander pulled strings under the cover of night. When I told him about you he told me who he was so I could help him get into the garage to rescue you. He's been torn up the last few days knowing that you're mad at him."

"Don't defend him, you're not really in a place to."

"I know I'm not and I'm not defending him, I'm just saying I think he loves you. Not in the same way I do but still..." Van Ness shrugged staring pointedly at the road as Aaron stared at the side of his face, trying to make sure he did hear that right before he shook his head.

"As far as apologies go that was piss-poor and you're going to have a long way to go to make up for this."

"I can live with that." There was a smile in Van Ness's voice now. Aaron turned his head to the window so he wouldn't see the smile that it inspired. He was still mad at him, no point in letting him know it might not be as venomous as it seemed.

**~*~*~**

When Aaron reached his apartment after finally convincing Van Ness that in no uncertain terms was he letting him come upstairs to babysit him, it was to come home to a bigger mess than he anticipated. He thought that the only mess would be by the living room and the front door when he fought the guys trying to drag him out but apparently King’s guys had ransacked the place before they left because the kitchen and Aaron’s bedroom along with the bathroom were all in disarray. Aaron sighed at the place but he got to work cleaning up nonetheless. He started at the front door, picking up shards of glass with his right hand as his left was still out of commission. Sweeping up the remainder of the glass while handicapped wasn’t fun and he ended up resorting to using a vacuum. Once he trashed the now dead flowers and put back his shattered picture frames of his sister, niece and nephew and Theodosia on the walls he moved on to the bathroom. It wasn’t quite so bad, he just had to replace all of his medicine and toiletries in the cupboard. It was as he was moving on to the kitchen that a knock sounded on the door.

He contemplated not answering it, he wasn’t exactly in a mood to court guests and if it was Van Ness he was going to contemplate throwing something at his head but he found his feet guiding him to the door nonetheless. He swung it open only to be greeted by Hamilton nervously shuffling in front of his door looking down at the floor.

“Um, hi.” Aaron didn’t say anything, he just stared at him until he looked up. Alexander’s eyes widened when he saw his face, the bruises that still probably looked horrendous to him.

“What do you need?” Aaron asked him flatly.

“I just, I heard the vacuum in here. I figured you were cleaning up and that it might be difficult so I came to help. Also, someone else really wanted to see you.” Alexander made a gesture and Seabury ran into the room leaping at Aaron’s feet. Aaron smiled a genuine smile as he reached down and let Seabury lick his fingers.

“I was worried about him.”

“He’s okay. King didn’t do much damage to him and he’s his usual loving self, he missed you though. He wasn’t alone in that.” Aaron looked up at Alexander and he was shuffling nervously again while looking at the floor. Aaron sighed before looking at the kitchen.

“I was going to clean the kitchen. I just have this room and my bedroom left. Bedroom’s worst off so, if you want to help, you can handle that.”

“Sure, of course. I mean, yes. I’ll just… I-I’ll--”

“Go.”

“Yes, yes.” Alexander scurried from the room and Aaron went about the kitchen cleaning up while Seabury sat and supervised. It was a slow process. Most of the things he needed to clean was on the floor, food flung across it. The fruit from his fruit bowl strewn across the floor. Each time Aaron bent to pick up an apple or an orange it was a journey, his ribs not allowing him the mobility he once had and he grunted and panted his way through the menial task, Seabury approaching to lick his face every once in a while before going back to his position laid out on the floor watching him. Aaron would’ve continued this endeavor if Hamilton hadn’t come in in that moment.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be exerting yourself. I’ll do that.”

“I’m not an invalid, Alexander. I may not be a superhero like you but I can pick up some damned fruit.” Aaron said angrily getting up a little too quickly, he gritted his teeth through the resulting pain as Alexander looked at him stricken.

“I know how capable you are Aaron. I admire you and the way you work, I just… you don’t have to do this alone. I just want to help you clean up your apartment, it’s the least I can do since King’s people were following you thanks to me anyway.” Aaron took a moment to contemplate this before he sighed and made his way to the island to take a break. Seabury silently moved to snuggle at his feet as Hamilton went about cleaning up the kitchen. They sat in tense silence before Hamilton suddenly broke through it.

“I’m not, you know.”

“Not what?”

“A superhero, I’m not.”

“Let’s see: wears a mask, has a code name, works from the whole good vs evil angle, has an arch nemesis. Maybe even has superpowers. Do you have superpowers?"

"It's not superpowers per se. It's... my senses are heightened way beyond a normal humans'. I heard Arnold and Lee discussing shooting the guy in the station before they did it and by the time I did, it was too late to get to them. I have a greater sense of my surroundings because of my senses, that helps a lot in fights."

"Sounds very superhero like to me. ”

“You know I’m not a superhero, you don’t believe in that. You don’t even like Daredevil.”

“And you know why because I opened up to you, gave you pieces of myself only those closest to me get to see and you’ve been lying this entire time.”

“I know you’re angry with me and you should be. You should be furious with you, you should be yelling at me, giving me what for.”

“I’m slow to anger but with you I toe that line and I would yell but I would probably only succeed in snapping a rib so best not to.”

“I know I don’t deserve to explain--”

“Yet I get the feeling you will.”

“I didn’t… go out thinking I would do this. I’m a lawyer, I work in the parameters of the law but you see so much shit happening and I just wanted to make a difference and it wasn’t happening in the courtroom so I went out and I made it happen. And it felt _good_ , it felt better than any verdict I ever heard in a courtroom. My mother got so much shit from assholes like George King and Benedict Arnold and Charles Lee, this city swallowed her up and spit her out and never looked back about it and I didn’t get justice for that! I didn’t get..."

"What? You didn't get revenge. Is that what this was all about?"

"Is it really so bad if that was a part of it? Even if only just a little bit?" Aaron shrugged looking down. He couldn't answer that question or rather there were too many answers for him to decide on one at that very moment.

"How did Van Ness get roped into that?" He asked instead.

"The DA's office has been investigating King for months now and I was one of the lawyers involved due to my client Levi Weeks' involvement with King's gang. He did some freelance security gigs for them sometimes. During the investigation I met Peggy while we were the Punisher and Daredevil. I left her with Van Ness, I didn't know where else to bring her to be sure she wouldn't kill anyone and that she'd be taken in by the real police and not King's men. She's the one who got into his head about King and told him about the DA's investigation and Van Ness decided that he was going to go undercover for them as a dirty cop with Peggy as Maria Reynolds, his roommate, to keep her close and assist him when he needed. I didn't involve him with anything beyond the DA's case and he didn't know about me, he didn't lie to you about that. He was just keeping you safe." 

"And you were doing what? What are you anyway? Are you a vigilante that happens to be a lawyer? Or are you a lawyer that happens to be a vigilante?"

"I don't know, Aaron." Alexander laughed humorlessly now, his arms wrapped tight around his waist.

"I don't know what I'm doing on a good day. I wasn't expecting all of this. I just want to go out and seek justice for people like my mom and myself and it felt good beating the bad guys. It was only going to be once and then it happened again and again and again. Then the word got around and it was in the news and all over the media and next thing I know I'm the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. I didn’t expect it to go this far but I can’t say I would change that because saving people, helping people, there’s no time I feel more alive… other than with you.”

“And what about me? Why bring me into this? You sought me out as Daredevil and as Alexander. Why? If not to drag me into something I wanted no part of and never did.”

“Because you’re good! You’re so good Aaron and because of Peggy and people like her who use what I’ve done and go too far. I needed someone like you who wasn’t blinded by the glamour of Daredevil to knock me down a peg sometimes.”

“That doesn’t explain you coming here and spending so much time with me.”

“I needed you to start talking more, I needed more than just Van Ness on my side and I thought I could sway you that way but then we got, I mean I…” Alexander sat down across from him abruptly, a serious expression on his face.

“I have these feelings for you, Aaron. I know this is possibly the worst time to tell you this but I need to because I am not explaining this well at all and that’s probably because there is no excuse for me lying to you. But I need you to know if this is going to be my last chance to tell you. I… I think I’m falling in love with you. No, I know I'm falling in love with you. I'm not sure of a lot of things in my life, honestly I'm a mess but I know how I feel about you. I know that's real, I know I could never fake that and I hope you know that too.” Aaron stared at Alexander for a moment and could see it in his eyes just like he had that night when they kissed. He took a deep breath and looked down at the counter top as he answered.

“I think I’m falling in love with you too. _Was_ falling in love with you. _Am_ falling in love with you... I don’t know. I don’t know anymore. Everything is a mess in my head and I’m just… I’m trying to navigate my way through it all but it’s just hard. I'm trying to understand why you didn't trust me, how I feel about that, how I feel about us, whether or not we can get past this. I need time.”

“Of course, of course. I-I get it.” Alexander stood to leave but Aaron stopped him.

“I said I need time not space. I’m not much use now anyway.” Aaron said, gesturing to his kitchen that was still a mess.

“Of course. I don’t mind working off my penance in manual labor.” Alexander said and Aaron recognized it for the olive branch it was.

“It’s a start I suppose. And eventually, way, _way_ down the line once I've had the time I need, maybe, just maybe, I'd like to buy you a drink. But mind you that invitation is tentative and you are on thin ice so best to tread lightly.” Alexander smiled at him, a dim imitation of his sunny grin but it was all Aaron could manage to try to drag from him at the moment.

"A drink with you in the near future or the distant future, either way, that would be nice." Aaron nodded, keeping the small smile struggling to form off his lips and nodding to his trashed kitchen.

"Your penance has yet to be paid off."

"Exploiting free labor, that's a crime officer."

"Shame there aren't many police officers left to arrest me as most are now behind bars thanks to you, superhero."

"Not a superhero."

"You are, just say it."

"I will never refer to myself that way."

"We'll see."

And they would see, they had much to discuss, much to still work through but this was a start and as far as starts went it could've been a lot worse.

**~*~*~**

**SOME MONTHS LATER**

Aaron and Van Ness whipped around the corner in their cop car, alarms and sirens blaring as they chased after the runaway vehicle in a robbery at a bodega. The car was an ostentatious one, a phantom, stolen as well from a car lot.

“Do these assholes think this is grand theft auto or somethin’?” Van Ness asked rhetorically as the getaway car did a perfect drift past two other cars.

“More like ‘Fast and Furious’.” Aaron replied. They chased the car to a residential area when suddenly the guys stopped. Aaron and Van Ness stopped too and prepared to get out when the perps backed their phantom into the cruiser then try to drive off only for the car to stall, they wasted no time running on foot.

“You get the guy going right, I’ll go left.” Aaron nodded in acquiescence and Van Ness clapped his shoulder before running after his perp and Aaron chased after his.

They whipped and weaved through the streets, jumping over fences and climbing through gates. Aaron managed to corner him in an alleyway only to have him pull a gun on him. Aaron’s gun was drawn as well and the two stood in the darkened space staring each other down. The perp was a kid, couldn’t be more than 19 and was sweating bullets with shifty eyes, the gun was trembling in his grip, all signs did not bode well for Aaron.

“Hey kid, chill out will you? I’m not overly found of getting shot.”

“I can’t go to jail, man. My mom will kill me.” Aaron knew guys on the street were usually more afraid of their mothers than the police so he appealed to that.

“She’d probably be even more pissed if you got life for killing a cop than 5 years for petty theft.” It probably wouldn’t be five but Aaron wasn’t about to tell him that. He was set to keep talking the kid down when suddenly a baton flew into his head and knocked him out. Aaron sighed in exasperation as Hamilton suddenly dropped into view, wrinkling his nose.

"I think the kid pissed his pants."

"I had it you know." Aaron said with annoyance. Hamilton shrugged in response.

"I know but you would've spent 30 minutes talking to him and we have a date in an hour."

"It's not a date, it's just Netflix."

"While cuddling together on the couch which will inevitably lead to--"

"Okay! Go away, I have a job to do and so do you." Aaron said, cutting off whatever vulgar sentence Alexander was going to say. He laughed in amusement while shaking his head.

"You're such a prude, Burr." He said, walking close to him and pressing their lips together in a soft kiss.

"I'll see you at home." Alex said, grabbing his baton and scaling a fire escape.

"Yeah, I'll see you. Be careful!"

"I love you!" Alex called before disappearing. Aaron shook his head to himself but he couldn't deny that hearing didn't fail to warm him up inside.

**Author's Note:**

> What you didn't see:  
> \- Aaron totally made Alexander, and Van Ness for that matter, work for his forgiveness. Even after he forgave them he drew it out so that they could sweat it out. Serves them right anyway.


End file.
